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Thirty-five years ago, when "searching for America" was not yet the cliche it has since become, Steinbeck hit the highways with his French poodle, Charley. In a custom-built camper he named Rosinante after Don Quixote's steed, the two traveled the country--10,000 miles and 34 states. Their varied experiences comprise several slices of small-town, back-roads Americana. Steinbeck laments the rise of plastic-covered everything, the vacuousness of "sad...
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"A lyrical and evocative collection of personal stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, in which the queen of wanderlust reflects on the comforts of home. While Frances Mayes is known for her travels, she has always sought a sense of home wherever she goes. In this poetic testament to the power of place in our lives, Mayes reflects on "home," from the earliest imprint of four walls to the startling discoveries...
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"A young writer embarks on an epic quest through the Argentine Andes in search of a family heritage that spans hemispheres and centuries, from the Jewish Levant to turn-of-the-century trade routes in South America. One Thanksgiving afternoon at his grandparents' house, Jordan Salama discovers a large binder stuffed with yellowing papers and old photographs--a five-hundred-year wandering history of his Arab Jewish family, from Moorish Spain to Ottoman...
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The spectacular, true story of a scrappy teenager from New York's Lower East Side who stowed away on the Roaring Twenties' most remarkable feat of science and daring: an expedition to Antarctica. It was 1928: a time of illicit booze, of Gatsby and Babe Ruth, of freewheeling fun. The Great War was over and American optimism was higher than the stock market. What better moment to launch an expedition to Antarctica, the planet's final frontier? This...
7) The Nobel Literature Prize Documentary 2009: Writing Against Terror-The Literature of Herta Muller
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English
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Her father was an ex-Nazi and alcoholic who clung to his fascist beliefs. For much of her life, she struggled against Nicolae Ceausescu's dehumanizing regime. But no matter how prolonged or alienating her hardships, they never crippled Herta Muller's spirit-and have, in fact, shaped and amplified her astonishing literary output. Commissioned by the Nobel Foundation, this program features revealing interviews with the 2009 Laureate, location footage...
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This program from the Famous Authors series provides an overview of Mark Twain's life and work, starting with life in nineteenth century Hannibal, Missouri, Twain's childhood home and a major influence on his writing, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain started writing as a newspaper employee in Hannibal, and he joined a militia group there early during the Civil War. He soon lost interest in the Southern...
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This program from the Famous Authors series traces James Joyce's life from his childhood and university days in Ireland, during which he was strongly religious, through his time in Paris where he denounced Catholicism, studied medicine, and began writing poetry, articles, and book reviews. The film introduces viewers to the city of Dublin, the background of Ulysses, Dubliners, and his other works. Joyce made a spotty living writing and teaching, but...
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Español
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Jorge Luis Borges-"invented" in collaboration with virtually everyone, including himself-defies easy identification. In this birthday tribute, which begins with the master reading his classic Borges and I, the then-80-year-old short story writer, poet, essayist, and philosopher joins TV and radio personality Antonio Carrizo in a Borgesian discussion of the multiplicity of existence; the influence of his family, his friends, and writers from the past;...
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Burning the candle at both ends, Edna St. Vincent Millay exemplified the rebirth of American letters after World War I. Writing as an independent woman who interacted equally with her male contemporaries, she helped shape the poetic ethos of the 1920s. Largely in her own words and using family and period photos, this portrait traces her poetic development from her Maine roots, through her Greenwich Village years, to her European travels and her growing...
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"Poet Laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical, and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life. In the second memoir from the first Native American to serve as US poet laureate, Joy Harjo invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic meditation, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of compassion and healing, poetry...
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Español
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In this 1976 interview for Spanish television, Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos, poet and novelist, talks with host Joaquin Soler Serrano about the turbulent colonial history that formed a nation relatively unknown by the world today. In his novels "Son of Man" and "I, the Supreme," Augusto Roa fictionalized the political struggles of his native Paraguay as he explored the consequences of absolute power and dictatorships. His poetry and short...
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"In this moving, lyrical, and ultimately uplifting collection of essays, Michael Paterniti turns a keen eye on the full range of human experience, introducing us to an unforgettable cast of everyday people. Michael Paterniti is one of the most original and empathic storytellers working today. His writing has been described as "humane, devastating, and beautiful" by Elizabeth Gilbert, "spellbinding" by Anthony Doerr, and "expansive and joyful" by George...
19) Silk parachute
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The essay "Silk Parachute," which first appeared in The New Yorker a decade ago, has become John McPhee's most anthologized piece of writing. In the nine other pieces here--highly varied in length and theme--McPhee ranges with his characteristic humor and intensity through lacrosse, long-exposure view-camera photography, the weird foods he has sometimes been served in the course of his reportorial travels, a U.S. Open golf championship, and a season...
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"While advancing their reading and writing skills to the next level, kids will have fun exploring games, traveling through new worlds, and embarking on reading adventures. - Practice phonics - Learn how to spell - Focus on early reading and writing skills - Explore interactive stories" - Publisher description.